Case Study Analysis: Digital Business Models and Strategies

This case study analysis delves into the realm of digital business, exploring the trends, advantages, and disadvantages of operating in a virtual environment. The analysis covers key aspects such as the impact of technology, comparing and contrasting Situation and SWOT analyses, and performing a Situation analysis for Amazon. It also critically evaluates emerging digital business models, addressing challenges related to information security threats and ethics, using Very.co.uk as an example. Furthermore, the study examines the importance of new collaborative relationships and strategic alliances, and differentiates between digital business and e-commerce. The report is structured to provide a comprehensive understanding of the digital business landscape, offering insights into various aspects of virtual business operations and strategic decision-making.

Case Study Analysis

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Question 1....................................................................................................................................1
Question 2....................................................................................................................................3
Question 3....................................................................................................................................4
Question 4....................................................................................................................................6
Question 5....................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Digital Business refers to the conducting of the different types of business activities in a
digital manner so that the profitability level can be enhanced effectively and efficiently
(Ballardini, Ituarte and Pei, 2018). Thus it is quite important for the companies that they are able
to adapt to this trend. This becomes quite important because in the changing dynamic time the
use of digital activities in the business becomes quite crucial to target the customers in the right
manner. Thus it becomes important that with the conduction of these activities the different types
of goals and objectives can be attained effectively and efficiently. This report will put its focus
on critical discussion of trends, advantages and disadvantages of managing virtual business in the
global environment, importance of technology and its impacts on businesses, comparing and
contrasting of Situation and SWOT analysis, Performing of Situation analysis, critical evaluation
of digital business models and challenges, Critical evaluation of importance of new collaborative
relationships and strategic alliances. Additionally, Comparison and Contrast of digital business
and e-commerce will be discussed as a part of this project.
MAIN BODY
Question 1
Virtual Business- Virtual Business refers to the conduction of different types of business
activities virtually so that the businesses are able to attain the different types of goals and
objectives effectively and efficiently (Chi, Zhao and Li, 2016). Thus in the Dynamic business
environment, it becomes highly important for the organizations so that they are able to make the
right adjustments effectively and efficiently without facing different types of problems and
issues. Global Business Environment Context refers to the global environment in which the
different types of businesses are operating.
Trends in Virtual Context-
 Online shopping- Online shopping refers to conduction of the different types of
shopping activities online. Both the buyers and sellers have to make sure that they are
able to conduct these activities online which will thus help them a lot in attaining of the
goals and objectives.
 Digital marketing- Digital marketing refers to making the use of different types of
marketing activities digitally so that the products and services can be promoted correctly.
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Thus by making its use the companies can ensure that they are able to achieve their
different types of goals and objectives without problems and issues by appropriately
targeting the different types of customers.
Advantages of virtual context-
 By operating in a virtual business environment the businesses can make sure that they are
able to become virtually very strong and can operate appropriately without problems and
issues.
 Virtual business environment is a requirement from the businesses nowadays so that they
are able to operate successfully in a dynamic business environment which will ensure that
the businesses are able to achieve their goals and objectives highly effectively and
efficiently.
Disadvantages of virtual context-
 Operating in a virtual context is not possible for those companies whose business
activities cannot be conducted online.
 Operating in a virtual context increases the overall level of costs for the different
organizations which affects their business activities.
The use of virtual technology by the businesses-
Debenhams is a British multinational retailer and it makes the use of virtual technology
so that it is able to operate in the right manner and can ensure that it promotes the sale of its
different types of products online and thus is able to attract the different types of customers
without problems and issues.
ASOS is a British retailer and it makes the use of virtual technology by ensuring that it
can operate properly and thus is able to promote the sale of different types of products online and
thus is able to enhance the overall level of revenues and profitability effectively and efficiently.
The impact of the use of technology by these businesses is that they are able to ensure
that they can make the operations of the business even more better (Dellermann, Fliaster and
Kolloch, 2017). Also there is an importance for the businesses to make the use of technology so
that they are able to target more customers in the future. In this way these businesses will be able
to ensure that they can target customers properly and achieve a higher-level of profitability in the
future without problems and issues.
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Question 2
Situation analysis- In the situation analysis there is an analysis of the different types of
factors both internal as well as external factors of an organization effectively and efficiently
(Holotiuk and Beimborn, 2017). The capabilities of a business, customers, potential customers
and the business environment of an organization is analysed effectively and efficiently through
the use of this analysis. Therefore it is quite important for the organizations to consider it for the
purpose of determination of strategy.
SWOT analysis- It is a very important tool through which the organizations are able to
assess the internal and external environments in a highly effective manner (Ismagilova and et.al.,
2017). Thus in this way the overall internal situation of the firms can be analysed appropriately
without problems and issues. They can improve by finding out their problems and issues in this
manner so that the appropriate rectifying actions are taken.
Comparison and Contrast of Situation analysis and SWOT analysis- Both the
Situation analysis and SWOT analysis are useful to assess the internal situation of the
organizations. However there are also various types of differences between the two. While
Situation analysis is useful for analysing the different types of situations in the business and then
determining the actions which are required to be taken the use of SWOT analysis is useful in the
identification of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the business so that the
desired actions are taken in the future.
Situation analysis of Amazon-
Amazon is an e-commerce retailer which provides different types of products as well as
services to the different customers (Kreutzer, Neugebauer and Pattloch, 2017). The focus on
Amazon is also on Personalisation. This is so because on the basis of shopping behaviour of the
customers and clients Amazon is able to make sure that the appropriate recommendations are
provided to the customers and clients so that the company is able to increase its revenues and
overall profits in the future. The application of Situation analysis in Amazon is as follows-
Product situation- This refers to the current products of the company. As an e-
commerce retailer the focus of Amazon is to make sure that the different types of products and
services are provided to the different customers on the basis of personalization which will
increase the revenues of the company.
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Competitive situation- This refers to the situation of the competitors in the market
(Leischnig, Woelfl and Ivens, 2016). As an e-commerce retailer the focus of Amazon has to be
on making sure that the level of competition can be handled in the right manner. Thus
personalization services of the company can be quite effective in this manner.
Distribution situation- This refers to the situation relating to the Distribution channels in
the company. Thus in Amazon this has to be adjusted according to the personalisation strategy
being used in the organization. This will help in raising of the overall efficiency as well as
effectiveness.
Environmental factors- This means the various types of external as well as internal
environmental factors. Therefore Amazon has to make sure that the personalization strategy is
adjusted according to the influence put by these factors which will help the company a lot.
Opportunity and issue analysis- This refers to the conducting of SWOT analysis which
can be useful in the determination of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the
company. Thus Amazon needs to make sure that the application of Personalisation strategy cane
be done here to reap its rewards.
Question 3
Emerging digital business models- The Emerging digital business models are quite
useful in ensuring that the conduction of the different types of digital business activities can be
carried out without problems and issues (Morabito, 2016). Thus in this way these models can be
highly helpful in ensuring that the organizations are able to use them and target different types of
customers in the future without problems and issues.
Information security threat and ethics- Information security threat and ethics refers to
the different threats which are faced in IT systems of the company. Ethics refers to the code of
conduct which has to be set in the organizations so that it is able to manage its operations and is
able to function in a highly ethical manner which will allot it to attain the different types of goals
and objectives in the future.
There can be different types of challenges in Information security threats. These
challenges are explained as follows-
 Technology with weak security- If the technology which is being used in the
organizations has a weak security then this will mean that the company has to face this
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particular threat which will render its data facing threat of attack from the outsiders who
may misuse it.
 Social media attacks- The social media attacks can be faced by the organizations when
they face threat on the attack on their social media platforms which may be misused by
the outside attacker and in this way create an Information security threat in the
organization.
Also there are different type of challenges which are faced by the firms which are related to their
ethics. These challenges are explained as follows-
 Lack of employee buy-in and commitment- The employees of a particular organization
may not be able to provide a buy-in and commit themselves towards achieving the ethical
behaviour in the organizations (Nwaiwu, 2018). Thus in this way it can lead towards
problems and issues in the different types of firms.
 Support from top management- Sometimes in the organizations the support from top
management is missing which can create problems and issues for them. Therefore in this
way it can create an impact on the companies.
The application of the emerging digital business models and challenges for information
security threats and ethics from the Case Study is as follows-
Very.co.uk incorporates the digital business models as they have made their website
personalized as well as interactive. They also provide weather updates by analysing the location
from the browser. Also on the basis of shopping behaviour of the different customers the
different types of recommendations are provided to them accordingly. Thus in this way the
company makes sure that the higher-level of profits can be earned through this manner.
However there are following challenges for information security in the organization-
 Risk to the data of the customers- The data of the different types of customers of
Very.co.uk is stored in the website (Nwaiwu, 2018). Thus this can create a high-level of
risk for the customers if their data is leaked.
 Problems and issues in data management- The data management in the organizations
can face a lot of problems and issues (Olbert and Werner, 2019). Thus in this way this
can affect a company like Very.co.uk because it can also lead towards mismanagement of
data.
Also the challenges related to ethics in the organization will be as follows-
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 Lack of a proper ethical code of conduct- In the organizations the different types of
ethics can face issues in their implementation because of lack of a proper ethical code of
conduct. Thus in this way a company like Very.co.uk may be affected due to these
reasons.
 Improper implementation of ethics- In the organizations the improper implementation
of ethics may affect their working pattern. Thus a company like Very.co.uk can face this
problem if its ethics are not implemented properly in its processes and functioning.
Question 4
Collaborative relationships- These are the relationships which can exist between
companies so that they are able to work in the right manner to achieve their mutual goals and
objectives in the future (Park and Mithas, 2020). This will help a lot in the attainment of higher-
level of efficiency and effectiveness. For the implementation of digital technology ensuring these
relationships becomes quite important for the organizations so that the different types of goals
and objectives can be attained without problems and issues.
Strategic alliances- It is a relationship between the organizations in which they agree to
undertake mutually beneficial project in which both of them can retain their independence.
Implementation of digital technology requires that these strategic alliances are created between
the firms which will be very helpful in ensuring that the organizational goals and objectives are
attained.
Importance of Collaborative relationships and Strategic alliances through digital
technology for implementing personalisation-
 Combination of resources- There is an importance of collaborative relationships and
strategic alliances because they help a lot in combining the resources of the organizations
in a highly effective manner. Thus in this way the implementation of personalisation can
be done in the right way which will help a lot in the attainment of the goals and
objectives.
 Efficiency and Effectiveness- For developing collaborative relationships and strategic
alliances it is quite important that the overall efficiency and effectiveness can be raised.
This will help in implementing of personalisation in the right way.
Example of Collaborative marketing for the implementation of personalisation-
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BMW and Louis Vuitton collaborated together to make sure that they both were able to do the
marketing of their different types of products and services. However the products of both the
brands are of entirely different nature as BMW provides cars to the customers in the different
budgets and Louis Vuitton provides bags of different sizes suiting to the different types of needs
and requirements of the customers. BMW is a very premium brand and thus it has customers
who have different sorts of premium requirements. The customers of BMW have their own
personalized needs and requirements and thus want that these needs and requirements are
fulfilled effectively and efficiently.
Thus in this way the collaboration of both of these brands have ensured that the different
customers are able to identify the bags they will need which can fit in the rear parcel shelf of the
car. Both of these brands made the use of digital marketing in an extensive way to promote this
personalization strategy which helped a lot in ensuring that the different types of customers were
targeted in the right way which increased the overall level of revenues without facing problems
and issues and contributed towards the overall success of both the companies. For this purpose
both of these brands made an extensive use of social media effectively and efficiently. In this
way they were able to make sure that the promotion was done in the right manner.
Question 5
Digital business- Digital business refers to the conduction of the business activities in a
digital manner. Conduction of business activities digitally requires making the use of digital
marketing techniques and various other approaches which can be helpful in ensuring that the
goals and objectives are achieved in the right manner (Remane and et.al., 2017).
E-Commerce- E-Commerce refers to the conduction of the activities related with
purchasing and selling of the goods and services online. Thus it is quite important for the
businesses that the use of this medium is made because in the changing business environment its
use becomes very crucial so that the overall goals and objectives can be attained (Seo, 2017).
Comparison and Contrast between E-Commerce and Digital business
Basis E-Commerce Digital business
Range of transactions E-Commerce is only limited
till monetary transactions.
Digital business is not limited
till monetary transactions.
Requirement Website is required for Website, CRM, ERP etc. are
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carrying out E-Commerce
activities.
required for carrying out
Digital business transactions.
E-Commerce Principles and their application to Digital business-
 User friendliness- The E-Commerce websites must be user-friendly in nature (Sia, Soh
and Weill, 2016). This is quite important because User-friendly E-Commerce websites
are best suited for the organizations and their digital business activities.
 Unique design elements- E-Commerce websites are also required to have some unique
design elements in them. In this way these websites can be highly helpful in ensuring that
the digital business activities are done correctly.
 Emphasis on security- E-Commerce websites are required to put an emphasis on
security because in this way the data of the users of these websites can be protected in the
right manner. In conducting digital business activities these websites are the most suitable
one.
 Responsive technology- E-Commerce websites should make sure that the technology
which they are using is responsive enough (Sousa and Rocha, 2019). In this way the
conduction of digital business activities can be carried out quite effectively.
The application of the different types of E-Commerce principles in the context of Amazon
is as follows-
 Identifying the target audience- In the E-Commerce websites it is quite important that
the target audience can be identified. Thus in this way it will be quite crucial that the
identification of the target audience can be done on the part of Amazon so that it is able
to provide them with the right products and services highly effectively and efficiently
according to their needs and requirements. This will also help it in carrying out digital
business activities.
 Adding a Search Column- E-Commerce websites must also have a search column so
that it can help them in ensuring that these websites are able to provide its customers with
a range of different types of options. This will help in ensuring that Amazon is able to
target the customers correctly. In this way digital business activities will be carried out in
the right manner.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that Digital business refers to conducting of
the different types of business activities digitally so that the goals and objectives are attained. For
the organizations it is highly important that they are able to identify the activities which can be
conducted digitally and will help the businesses in working in a proper manner. It also allows the
organizations an extended scope for ensuring the maximization of business activities for the
growth of the firm. Thus in this way the firms will be able to make sure that the use of the
various types of digital business processes is made for the purpose of enhancement of the overall
revenues and for targeting the maximization of the profitability level in the future.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Ballardini, R. M., Ituarte, I. F. and Pei, E., 2018. Printing spare parts through additive
manufacturing: legal and digital business challenges. Journal of Manufacturing
Technology Management.
Chi, M., Zhao, J. and Li, Y., 2016. Digital business strategy and firm performance: the mediation
effects of E-collaboration capability. In Wuhan International Conference On E-Bisnis.
Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL).
Dellermann, D., Fliaster, A. and Kolloch, M., 2017. Innovation risk in digital business models:
the German energy sector. Journal of Business Strategy.
Holotiuk, F. and Beimborn, D., 2017. Critical success factors of digital business strategy.
Ismagilova, L. A. and et.al., 2017. Digital business model and smart economy sectoral
development trajectories substantiation. In Internet of Things, Smart Spaces, and Next
Generation Networks and Systems (pp. 13-28). Springer, Cham.
Kreutzer, R. T., Neugebauer, T. and Pattloch, A., 2017. Digital business leadership. Digital
Transformation–Geschäftsmodell-Innovation–agile Organisation–Change-
Management.
Leischnig, A., Woelfl, S. and Ivens, B., 2016. When does digital business strategy matter to
market performance?.
Morabito, V., 2016. The Future of Digital Business Innovation. Schweiz: Springer International
Publishing.
Nwaiwu, F., 2018. Review and comparison of conceptual frameworks on digital business
transformation. Journal of Competitiveness.
Olbert, M. and Werner, A. C., 2019. Measuring and interpreting countries’ tax attractiveness for
investments in digital business models. Intertax. 47(2).
Park, Y. and Mithas, S., 2020. Organized Complexity of Digital Business Strategy: A
Configurational Perspective. MIS Quarterly. 44(1).
Remane, G. and et.al., 2017. Discovering digital business models in traditional industries.
Journal of Business Strategy.
Seo, D., 2017. Digital business convergence and emerging contested fields: a conceptual
framework. Journal of the Association for Information Systems. 18(10). p.3.
Sia, S. K., Soh, C. and Weill, P., 2016. How DBS Bank Pursued a Digital Business Strategy. MIS
Quarterly Executive. 15(2).
Sousa, M. J. and Rocha, Á., 2019. Skills for disruptive digital business. Journal of Business
Research. 94. pp.257-263.
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